Traveler&#39;s personal arm rest device

ABSTRACT

A traveler&#39;s personal arm rest device comprises a chest portion and a pair of shoulder straps configured to supportively maintain the chest portion against the anterior side of a wearer&#39;s torso. In an embodiment, the chest portion may be securely folded to define a tubular cavity sized to accommodate all of the wearer&#39;s arms therein so that such arms may be maintained and comfortably supported by way of the straps in a resting position that is in line with his or her own body. The disclosure may provide a wearer with increased comfort while seated in cramped modes of public transportation and further prevent passive aggressive and even assertive arguments with neighbors regarding available arm resting spaces. Elements enabling compact self-stowage when not in use, providing ergonomic support when worn, and permitting storage of personal belongings therein are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation-in-part and claims the benefitof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/157,245, filed on May 17, 2016.The application is incorporated by reference herein.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACT

Not applicable.

STATEMENT RE. FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

COPYRIGHT & TRADEMARK NOTICES

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document may contain materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. This patent document may showand/or describe matter which is or may become trade dress of the owner.The copyright and trade dress owner has no objection to the facsimilereproduction by any one of the patent document or the patent disclosure,as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files orrecords, but otherwise reserves all copyrights and trade dress rightswhatsoever.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed subject matter relates generally to traveler's accessoriesand garments and, more particularly, to a device configured to provide atraveler with a personal arm rest that avoids undesirably encroaching onstrangers' spaces in cramped modes of public transportation.

BACKGROUND

Although long-distance travel via public modes of transportation—such asairplanes—has in recent years become less expensive and thus moreaccessible to the general public, certain concessions have had to bemade. For instance, in order to accommodate greater numbers ofpassengers, seating spaces have notoriously become narrower, grantingeach traveler less and less personal space. A common complaint fromtravelers in such conditions is that neighboring passengers disrespectwhat is left of any personal space by overtaking shared portions definedby the seating arrangements. For example, “elbow wars” colloquiallyrefers to passive aggressive and sometimes assertive disagreements overuse of shared armrests.

Some solutions for clearly dividing shared spaces have been proposed.For instance, U.S. Pub. No. 2015/0084393 filed by Chang et al. teaches aportable arm rest divider which expands the surface area of the arm restand provides a barrier that separates the space allotted to seatedneighbors. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,959,231 to Lee disclosesan armrest defined by vertically separated planes which are designed toaccommodate one each of neighboring travelers' forearms. Unfortunately,these still require each neighbor to tacitly accept the other into aportion of his shared space.

Some wearable devices have also been proposed to avoid the need for suchcompromise by placing an auxiliary arm support within the personal spacedefined by the traveler's own body. For instance, U.S. Pat. No.6,973,691 to Cordova et al. discloses an elongated pillow support with ahorizontal pocket for receiving arms therethrough; U.S. Pat. No.6,966,069 to Booth teaches a traveler's blanket with integrated armpockets; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,185 to Schimpl teaches an arm supportformed as a sweater that rigidly maintains bent arms within a horizontalenvelope formed in the body of the support.

Still, these proposed solutions are deficient for various reasons,including for example that they lack ergonomic support, storagecapability, and adjustability, and the problem of comfortably restingarms over the course of travel persists. Thus, there remains a need fora personal, wearable armrest.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to a personal arm rest device which,briefly, comprises a chest portion folded to supportively accommodate awearer's arms and a pair of shoulder straps configured to supportivelymaintain the chest portion against the anterior side of the wearer'storso.

For purposes of summarizing, certain aspects, advantages, and novelfeatures have been described. It is to be understood that not all suchadvantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particularembodiment. Thus, the disclosed subject matter may be embodied orcarried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage orgroup of advantages without achieving all advantages as may be taught orsuggested.

In accordance with one embodiment, the device may comprise a chestportion configured to define a tubular cavity sized to accommodate oneor both of the wearer's arms therein, as desired. For example, the chestportion may comprise an outside, an inside, a top end and a bottom end.Then, to form the tubular cavity, the bottom end may be secured alongthe inside of the chest portion. The bottom end may be fixedly securedsuch as by permanently threadedly stitching the bottom end along theinside of the chest portion, however, it is contemplated that the bottomend may alternatively be adjustably securable along the inside of thechest portion. For example, opposing hook and loop fasteners may berespectively secured to the inside of the chest portion and the bottomend so that the bottom end may be releasably and/or adjustably meshedwith the inside of the chest portion. As another example, opposing maleand female snapping members may be disposed along the inside of thechest portion and the bottom end so that the bottom end may bereleasably mated along the inside of the chest portion.

In any event, it is contemplated that the chest portion may beconfigured to lay in a position corresponding to the anterior side of awearer's torso so that the tubular cavity may maintain the wearer's armsin front of his body. To further maintain the chest portion—and wearer'sarms—in this position, a first supportive strap and a second supportivestrap may be horizontally spaced from one another, secured to the topend of the chest portion and outside bottom-most portion of tubularcavity defined by the chest portion, and configured to receive one eachof a wearer's arms therethrough. Such supportive straps may thus beformed to respectively encircle at least a portion of the wearer'sleft-lateral and right-lateral torso, including his or her shoulders, sothat the supportive straps may forcibly hold the chest portion againstthe wearer's chest.

In some embodiments, the supportive straps may be adjustable tocomfortably fit wearers of various sizes. For example, one skilled inthe art will recognize that each supportive strap may comprise a plasticor metal strap adjuster configured to slidably receive portions of thesupportive strap threaded therethrough. Using such adjusters, thelengths of each of the first and second supportive straps may beincreased or decreased as desired.

Other features may be provided to enhance a wearer's comfort as well.For instance, a first horizontal strap may be secured along the firstsupportive strap and a second horizontal strap may be secured along thesecond supportive strap. When worn by a traveler, the first and secondhorizontal straps may be secured to one another behind the wearer toprevent the supportive straps from slipping off the wearer's arms. Oneskilled in the art will recognize that this may also prevent the wearerfrom rounding his or her shoulders forward, toward his or her restingarms, in a slouched position. Such horizontal straps may be adjustablealong the length of the supportive straps and also adjustable in termsof their own length to accommodate wearers of varied height and girth.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the first and secondsupportive straps comprises padded material to comfortably absorb anddisperse downward pressure from a wearer's resting arms upon hisshoulders and/or neck. Likewise, at least a portion of the chest portionmay comprise padded material to comfortably absorb and disperse inwardpressure of the wearer's arms held against his or her chest.

The top end of the chest portion may define a concave space between thefirst and second supportive straps in order to avoid uncomfortablecontact between the chest portion and the wearer's neck and throat.

A resealable pouch may also be disposed along the outside of the chestportion. In some embodiments, the pouch may be sized and configured toenable the device to be compactly self-stowed within the pouch when notin use or being worn by a traveler. It is also contemplated, though,that the pouch may be sized and configured to receive and store variouspersonal belongings, as desired.

Alternatively, or in addition to, the resealable pouch, a first andsecond slit may at least partially intersect the tubular cavity topermit a traveler the use of one or more of his hands outside of thechest portion of the device, while comfortably supporting some of his orher forearms in front of his body. In some embodiments, the slits may beclosed to maintain a continuous tubular cavity. Optional closures mayinclude, for example, zipper pulls, and snaps, ties. In someembodiments, the slits may comprise a resilient plastic, elastic, oreven squeeze seal border, which those skilled in the art will recognizeas readily yielding to pressure, but also resuming a regular positionwhen not in use.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to comfortably maintain andsupport a traveler's arms in line with his or her own body in a mannerthat avoids conflict with neighboring travelers.

It is another object of the invention to provide means of compactlystoring the device when not in use.

It is still another object of the invention to ergonomically maintainand support the traveler's arms while subjected to cramped spaces inpublic modes of transportation.

One or more of the above-disclosed embodiments, in addition to certainalternatives, are provided in further detail below with reference to theattached figures. The disclosed subject matter is not, however, limitedto any particular embodiment disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of one embodiment of thetravelers' personal arm rest.

FIG. 2 shows a rear perspective view of one embodiment of the travelers'personal arm rest.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the traveler's personal arm restdisposed on a traveler's body.

FIG. 4 shows a front perspective view of another embodiment of atraveler's personal arm rest.

FIG. 5 shows a rear perspective view of the traveler's personal arm restof FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates the traveler's personal arm rest of FIG. 4 disposedon a traveler's body.

The disclosed embodiments may be better understood by referring to thefigures in the attached drawings, as provided below. The attachedfigures are provided as non-limiting examples for providing an enablingdescription of the method and system claimed. Attention is called to thefact, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typicalembodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered aslimiting of its scope. One skilled in the art will understand that theinvention may be practiced without some of the details included in orderto provide a thorough enabling description of such embodiments.Well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described indetail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of theembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Having summarized various aspects of the present disclosure, referencewill now be made in detail to that which is illustrated in the drawings.While the disclosure will be described in connection with thesedrawings, there is no intent to limit it to the embodiment orembodiments disclosed herein. Rather, the intent is to cover allalternatives, modifications and equivalents included within the spiritand scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

With reference to FIG. 1 the device may comprise a chest portion 12having an outside 14, an inside 16, a top end 18 and a bottom end 20. Atubular cavity 22 may be formed to receive one or both of a wearer'sarms, more particularly his or her forearms, by securing the bottom end20 along the inside 16 portion of the chest portion 12. In someembodiments, the bottom end 20 may be fixedly secured such as bypermanently threadedly stitching the bottom end 20 along the inside 16of the chest portion 12, such as is shown in the figures. However, it iscontemplated that the bottom end 20 may alternatively be adjustablysecurable along the inside of the chest portion 12. One skilled in theart will recognize, for example and not limitation, that opposing hookand loop fasteners may be respectively secured to the inside 16 of thechest portion 12 and the bottom end 20 so that the bottom end 20 may bereleasably and/or adjustably meshed with the inside 16 of the chestportion 12. Similarly, opposing male and female snapping members may bedisposed along the inside 16 of the chest portion 12 and the bottom end20 so that the bottom end 20 may be releasably mated along the inside 16of the chest portion 12.

A first supportive strap 22 a and second supportive strap 22 b may besecured to the chest portion 12 and configured to comfortably encircle awearer's 30 left-lateral and right-lateral torso, including hisshoulders 32 a, 32 b as illustrated in FIG. 3. It is contemplated thatproviding two supportive shoulder straps spreads the weight of awearer's arms 34 a, 34 b resting within the tubular cavity 22 evenlyacross the tops of the wearer's shoulders 32 a, 32 b. Referring to FIGS.1 and 2, the first and second supportive straps 22 a, 22 b may behorizontally spaced from one another and secured to the top end 18 andoutside 14 of the chest portion 12 corresponding to a bottom-mostportion of the tubular cavity 22. The supportive straps 22 a, 22 b maythus be configured to receive one each of a wearer's arms therethroughto forcibly hold the chest portion 12 against the wearer's chest.

It is contemplated that the supportive straps 22 a, 22 b may beadjustable to comfortably fit wearers of various sizes. For example, oneskilled in the art will recognize that each supportive strap 22 a, 22 bmay comprise a plastic or metal strap adjuster 24 optionally withlocking bars configured to slidably receive portions of the supportivestrap 22 a, 22 b threaded therethrough. Using such adjusters, thelengths of each of the first and second supportive straps 22 a, 22 b maybe increased or decreased as desired.

The chest portion 12 and straps 22 a, 22 b may comprise a variety ofdifferent materials and need not be limited in such respects. It iscontemplated that the chest portion may comprise rugged materialscapable of withstanding repeated use. Indeed, such materials may also bewashable. As a non-limiting example, the chest portion may comprisenylon, vinyl, canvas, polyester, leather, and others, includingcombinations of any possible materials.

In some embodiments, the chest portion 12 may comprise, in whole or inpart, padded material to increase comfort of arms contained therein oreven absorb and disperse pressure of contained arms being held againstthe anterior side of a wearer's torso. Similarly, each of the supportivestraps 22 a, 22 b may comprise padded portions which disperse and absorbpressure applied downward on a wearer's shoulders by crossed arms.Padding in either or both cases may comprise, for example, foam chosenfrom open cell foam, closed cell foam, dual-density foams, compressionmolded foams, and even a combination of the same, without limitation.Still, it is contemplated that the traveler's personal arm rest deviceneed only be configured to support the weight of a wearer's arms and anypersonal belongings stored within a pouch formed therein, thus, oneskilled in the art will recognize that it may be desirable to decreasebulk and weight of the device itself by eliminating foamed padding andother similar features altogether.

Other elements may be provided in lieu of or in combination with variousforms of padding to ergonomically distribute weight of relaxed, restingarms on the wearer's body. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 2, afirst and second horizontal strap 26 a, 26 b may be provided toreleasably and optionally adjustably connect the first and secondshoulder straps 22 a, 22 b to one another across the thoracic portion ofthe wearer's back in order to mitigate any tendency for crossed arms topull the wearer's shoulders forward into an undesirable slumped orslouched position. This may also prevent the first and second supportivestraps 22 a, 22 b from slipping off the wearer's shoulders during use.It is contemplated that such horizontal straps 26 a, 26 b may beadjustable along the length of the supportive straps 22 a, 22 b and alsoadjustable in terms of their own length to accommodate wearers of variedheight and girth. Though the horizontal straps 26 a, 26 b are shown tobe connected to one another via a common spring clip 28, one skilled inthe art will recognize that the horizontal straps 26 a, 26 b may beoptionally secured to one another via snaps, eye and hook fasteners,hook and loop fasteners, and even simply by tying them together. Thus,ergonomic elements should not be limited by the drawings, which arepresented simply to ease understanding.

With reference to FIG. 3, another ergonomic element in the traveler'spersonal arm rest device may be a concave space 36 between the first andsecond supportive straps 22 a, 22 b which defines the shape of the topedge 18 of the chest portion 12. Forming the chest portion 12 in thismanner may avoid uncomfortable contact between the chest portion and thewearer's neck and throat.

It is contemplated that a resealable pouch 38 may also be disposed alongthe outside 14 of the chest portion 12 in some embodiments. Moreparticularly, the pouch 38 may be sized and configured to enable thedevice to be compactly self-stowed within the pouch 38 when not in useor being worn by a traveler 30. It is also contemplated, though, thatthe pouch 38 may be sized and configured to receive and store variouspersonal belongings, as desired.

Alternatively, or in addition to, the resealable pouch 38, a first andsecond slit 40 a, 40 b may be disposed along the chest portion 12 to atleast partially intersect the tubular cavity 22, which may be seen inFIG. 4. In some embodiments, a closure may be provided to optionallyseal the slits 40 a, 40 b. For example, a first and second zipper 42 a,42 b may be provided to enable a traveler to open and close the slits 40a, 40 b as desired. Other closures are contemplated, such as snaps,buttons, clasps, resilient squeeze seals, for example only and notlimitation.

It is also contemplated that the slits 40 a, 40 b, may be sized toreceive at least one each of the traveler's hands therethrough fromwithin the tubular cavity 22. Thus, as demonstrated in FIG. 6, a wearermay retain the use of her hands 44 a, 44 b to hold objects 46 such as abook, phone, pen and pad, laptop or tablet computer, for example, amongothers, while maintaining her upper arms and elbows close to her ownbody. Indeed, extending the slits 40 a, 40 b along the perimeter of thetubular cavity 22 may ease comfort and wearer's range of motion,allowing any outer flaps 46 a, 48 b defined by the slits 40 a, 40 b tomove away and at angle from the wearer's body as she moves. Thus, insome embodiments, the slits 40 a, 40 b may extend along the greater partof the perimeter of the tubular cavity 22 as illustrated for example inFIG. 5. Of course, with the slits sealed, it is contemplated that thedevice may be used as described above in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3.

It should be noted that although two slits 40 a, 40 b are shown in theexemplary figures, a single opening or slit may be disposed in the chestportion to accommodate both of a wearer's hands without departing fromthe invention. In any case, one or more slits may permit a traveler theuse of one or more of his hands outside of the chest portion of thedevice, while comfortably supporting some of his or her forearms infront of his body from within the cavity and maintaining his or herelbows near to his or her own body. It should be emphasized that theabove-described embodiments are merely examples of possibleimplementations. Many variations and modifications may be made to theabove-described embodiments without departing from the principles of thepresent disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intendedto be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protectedby the following claims.

Moreover, embodiments and limitations disclosed herein are not dedicatedto the public under the doctrine of dedication if the embodiments and/orlimitations: (1) are not expressly claimed in the claims; and (2) are orare potentially equivalents of express elements and/or limitations inthe claims under the doctrine of equivalents.

CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

While certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed, various modifications are contemplated and can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, color applied to various elements comprising the traveler'spersonal arm rest device may vary according to various aestheticdesires. Additionally, hardware applied to portions of the device maycomprise various materials such as plastics, metals, and combinations ofthe same. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention not be limited,except as by the appended claim(s).

The teachings disclosed herein may be applied to other systems, and maynot necessarily be limited to any described herein. The elements andacts of the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments. All of the above patents and applicationsand other references, including any that may be listed in accompanyingfiling papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of theinvention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems,functions and concepts of the various references described above toprovide yet further embodiments of the invention.

Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing refined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the traveler's personal arm rest device withwhich that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in thefollowing claims should not be constructed to limit the traveler'spersonal arm rest device to the specific embodiments disclosed in thespecification unless the above description section explicitly definesuch terms. Accordingly, the actual scope encompasses not only thedisclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing orimplementing the disclosed apparatus. The above description ofembodiments of the traveler's personal arm rest device is not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the precise form disclosed above or to aparticular field of usage.

While specific embodiments of, and examples for the apparatus aredescribed above for illustrative purposes, various equivalentmodifications are possible for which those skilled in the relevant artwill recognize.

While certain aspects of the traveler's personal arm rest devicedisclosed are presented below in particular claim forms, various aspectsof the invention are contemplated in any number of claim forms. Thus,the inventor reserves the right to add additional claims after filingthe application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspectsof the traveler's personal arm rest device.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for supporting a person's arms in frontof their own body, comprising: a chest portion having an outside, aninside, a top end, and a bottom end, the bottom end securable along theinside to define a tubular cavity sized to receive the person's arms; afirst and a second slit, each defining a zippered closure, disposedparallel to one another on the chest portion and intersecting thetubular cavity; and a first and a second supportive strap, the strapshorizontally spaced apart from one another and each having a first endsecurable to the top end of the chest portion and a second end securableto a bottom-most portion of the tubular cavity along the outside of thechest portion, the straps further configured to receive one each of theperson's arms therethrough to respectively encircle at least a portionof the left-lateral and right-lateral portions of the person's torsoincluding his or her shoulder.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein eachslit is sized to receive one each of the wearer's hands as well as aportion of the wearer's forearms therethrough.
 3. The device of claim 1,wherein the top end defines a concave portion and the first and secondsupportive straps are securable to the device such that the concaveportion defines the horizontal space between the straps.
 4. A device forsupporting a person's arms in front of their own body, comprising: achest portion having an outside, an inside, a top end, and a bottom end,the bottom end securable along the inside to define a tubular cavitysized to receive the person's arms; a first and a second slit, eachdefining a zippered closure, disposed parallel to one other on the chestportion and intersecting the tubular cavity; and a first and a secondsupportive strap, the straps horizontally spaced apart from one anotherand each having a first end securable to the top end of the chestportion and a second end securable to a bottom-most portion of thetubular cavity along the outside of the chest portion, the strapsfurther configured to receive one each of the person's arms therethroughto respectively encircle at least a portion of the left-lateral andright-lateral portions of the person's torso including his or hershoulder; and a pouch disposed on the outside of the chest portionbetween the first and second slits.
 5. The device of claim 4, whereinthe pouch is sized to enable self-stowing of the device when the deviceis not being worn by a wearer.
 6. The device of claim 4, wherein atleast a portion of the first and second supportive straps comprisespadded material.
 7. The device of claim 4, wherein at least a portion ofthe chest portion comprises padded material.
 8. The device of claim 4,wherein the top end defines a concave portion and the first and secondsupportive straps are securable to the device such that the concaveportion defines the horizontal space between the straps.